Britt Burns

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT BRITT BURNS - PAGE 4

The White Sox are ready to fire manager Tony LaRussa and replace him with Billy Martin. But Yankee owner George Steinbrenner could kill the deal--and, in effect, save LaRussa's job. A source in the Sox organization revealed late Wednesday that Steinbrenner, if he lets Martin go, wants pitcher Joe Cowley in return and that he also expects the Sox to cancel the $120,000 he owes them from the Neil Allen deal. "That's a stiff price to pay," the source said. "I`m not sure we`re going to go for it."

Ron Kittle said goodbye to the White Sox Tuesday night while his former team continued to say hello to the future. The Sox traded Kittle, catcher Joel Skinner and infielder Wayne Tolleson to the Yankees for catcher Ron Hassey, minor-league infielder Carlos Martinez and a player to be named later. The Sox also elevated outfielder Daryl Boston and infielder Brian Giles from Triple-A Buffalo. Martinez, who turns 21 next month, was the key for the Sox, who now are clearly committed to stockpiling their organization with young players.

Hawk Harrelson had been making promises, promises as tall as his cowboy hat. Thursday, the White Sox's rookie general manager, 0-for-the-winter in the Big Trade Department, appeared to have finally hit a long one when he traded left-hander Britt Burns and two minor leaguers to the New York Yankees for right-handed pitcher Joe Cowley and catcher Ron Hassey. The minor leaguers were Mike Soper, a shortstop at Class AA Glens Falls, N.Y., and Glen Braxton, an 18-year-old outfielder who was the Sox's third-round selection in the June free-agent draft.

What might the American League East be like if the New York Yankees had one more first-rate starting pitcher? A pitcher who, say, was coming off an 18-win season? One who tossed four shutouts in 1985, with 172 strikeouts? Britt Burns, who did all those things last season for the Chicago White Sox before his trade to the Yankees, thinks he knows what such an addition might have meant to the offense-rich, pitching-poor New Yorkers. "If I were a betting man," Burns said from his home in suburban Birmingham, Ala., "I`d bet everything I own that the Yankees would win the division."

Ron Kittle has unilaterally declared a split season for major league baseball. If a split season was good enough in strike-torn 1981, it's good enough for the year of the mini-strike, reasons the White Sox's slugger. He has been living a nightmare all year, but Kittle woke up Thursday morning determined to make a new beginning to the season. "I woke up knowing there was a ballgame," he said Thursday night, "and said to myself, `We`ve got 60 games to play and I`m going to put what's happened behind me and have some fun.` " Some fun!

Everyone is waiting for history to be made at Yankee Stadium Sunday when Tom Seaver tries for his 300th victory. But a play for the history books was pulled off Friday by the White Sox when catcher Carlton Fisk tagged out two New York Yankee runners at home plate on the same play in the seventh inning, preserving a 3-3 tie. The game was tied 5-5 after 10 innings. The Sox won 6-5. One of the rarest of double plays occurred in the seventh when Rickey Henderson ripped a hit to center field with Bobby Meacham at second and Dale Berra at first and none out. While Meacham waited to see if Salazar could make the catch, Berra didn`t, and he was at second when Henderson's shot landed on the warning track.

The White Sox and the Yankees, after considerable labor, gave birth to a five-player deal Thursday, but the blessed event wasn`t complete. Neither Don Baylor, the veteran DH, nor Carlton Fisk was included in the deal. The problem is with the midwife: Jerry Kapstein, who represents both Baylor and Fisk, won`t deliver them unless they get more dough. Kapstein, however, had no say in the front half of the transaction. The Sox acquired catcher Ron Hassey and right-handed pitcher Joe Cowley for left- handed pitcher Britt Burns and a pair of minor leaguers--shortstop Mike Soper and outfielder Glen Braxton.

Ken Harrelson of the White Sox, the rookie general manager, was about to preside at a press briefing. It was midafternoon Wednesday and reporters, at the Hawk's request, had gathered in his second-floor suite at the Town & Country Hotel, headquarters for the winter baseball convention. The Hawk, as usual, was a picture of sartorial elegance. Working through the rainbow, he had selected red as his dominant color: Blood-red leather jacket; red shirt, with small white dots; reddish-brown boots; tan slacks and a white pullover sweater.

It would be much simpler if the White Sox, what with all their stadium problems in Chicago, picked up and left for Connecticut. Then, Tom Seaver could pitch closer to his house than he ever imagined. But they aren`t moving yet. And though the New York Yankees again have replaced the Boston Red Sox as the team most interested in his 41-year-old right arm, Seaver hasn`t moved yet, either. April showed up on Tuesday, and so did Seaver. Early, for laps. "Steinbrenner's back in the picture?"

An Eastern source, usually reliable, reports that the Angels and the Yankees are in the preliminary discussion stages of a straight-up Reggie Jackson for Don Baylor trade. Mike Port, the Angels` general manager who is still young enough that he tells the whole truth and nothing but the truth, insists there is nothing to it. But when asked if he would make the deal if proposed, Port said: "I`d have to think it through. There would be a lot of ramifications. It's difficult to answer yes or no."